The Perfect Loaf

Holidays and cold weather make the perfect time to work on my baking skills. And with the clay bread oven I got for Christmas, called La Cloche, its an easy task!

I used a french bread recipe provided in the instructions, but will try out all my favorite recipes. After the bread had risen, I placed it in this bell-shaped baking stone and baked it at 450 degrees for about 1/2 hour.

The bread that emerged was the most amazing I've ever achieved at home. A crispy crust and moist, fluffy inside -- this was really as good as any bakery.

Thanks mom and dad!

Broccoli Pest

What was on those broccoli leaves I so naively chopped up and spread throughout my garden as winter nutrients? (See Winterizing.) I'm thinking it was aphids. This isn't a perfect fit, but it seems most likely based on what I'm reading.

If I don't want to go dig up every piece of leaf now, looks like lady bugs might do the trick this spring. They are aphid-eating machines. They are touted as the gardener's best friend and don't appear to have any negatives (like eating my plants!) See here for details on making your garden a ladybug friendly place.

Winterizing

While lucky friends of mine in San Diego, CA and Richmond, VA don't need to shut their gardens down in the winter, those of us in less temperate climes need to put our gardens to bed in the winter.

I'm sure there are a million ways to do this, and everyone has an opinion on the best one. Here's how I did it - I'll let you know in the spring my thoughts on it!

I removed all of the plants from the soil except the still growing massive Romanesco Broccoli - this was necessary so that no bugs can overwinter in the leaves and roots. I left the soil exposed for a couple weeks to allow it to freeze thoroughly and kills any pests. (Here I was torn - I wanted to leave all the plants I have removed on the soil to decompose and add their nutrients back, but without allowing the soil to really freeze through, you run the risk of increased pests next year. Ideally, if i'd been able to make a little pile somewhere, I would have thrown the plants back on the following month after everything was frozen.)

Nate and I then went out and broke up the soil a bit with a hoe. We removed one of the broccoli plants at this time and i chopped up and threw down the massive leaves - i know they decompose quickly and will add nutrients back to the soil.

We added then added a one inch layer of manure, a two inch layer of organic compost (both from Home Depot), and a thick layer of straw (about 2 inches). I have no idea how quickly things will decompose this winter, particularly since I cannot get out and water it. Hopefully the snow will be enough moisture to speed decomposition. This is why I didn't add leaves, etc (other than not having an easy source for them). This way, I can plant seeds directly in this rich soil under any non-decomposed straw and not have any issues.

Pest Warning: Although I checked the broccoli leaves for signs of pests, I later realized that one of the plants I chopped up might have had mites living on portions of the leaves. The thought of encouraging these mites and giving them a warm winter home now keeps me up at night!! I'm hoping the subfreezing temps were enough to kill them, but I will research if I might need to go dig these leaves up and remove them.

Winter Tomatoes

While I didn't write about it at the time, I wanted to share my success with extending my tomato crop this fall- we ate our last homegrown tomato December 15!!

In late September when DUG shut off the garden water and the threat of frost was in the air every night, my tomatoes had just gotten going. Most of them were full with big green fruits and I couldn't bear to lose them, especially after not having a huge crop during the summer. I just needed one more month!

I didn't have one more month, so from the smaller plants, I plucked off the really good tomatoes and threw these in a cardboard box (after washing). I didn't put them in a dark place or rinse them with a weak bleach solution like recommended - only because they started ripening before I had time to!

The large plants with a ton of fruit, I dug out of the ground and hung upside down in my garage. These ripened massive delicious tomatoes over the next two months - every time i drove into my garage, there was another delicious German Red Strawberry or Rose tomato waiting on the vine to be plucked and eaten.

The majority of these green tomatoes ripened and were almost as delicious as they had been in the summer (and certainly 10x better than anything available in the store).

When I brought in those last plants, I had a more ripe tomatoes than I could eat in a week available right then. I froze about 2 gallon size bags and, after I ran out of ripening green tomatoes in December, have been making stirfries and stews with the frozen ones. They add such a rich flavor -- so uniquely heirloom its ridiculous! We made tikka masala loaded with spices and the most distinct flavor was the tomatoes.

Last summer, I was worried that my choice of 8 heirlooms was not producing enough for the amount of work and space. Now I realize that it was actually just that the plants required a longer season than I have here in Denver (in an urban garden that the water line can't be turned on until June), even with starting seeds in milk jugs on the porch! In 2009, I will rely more heavily on starter plants. I, of course, will Have to get a couple seeds packs, because they are so fun, but without a lamp to get them growing big and healthy early on, plants might be the primary way to go. I love Tomato Fest for heirloom seeds, and they recommend Heirloom Plants for. . . well . . . heirloom plants. (Looks like i need to get my order in by February - just found something very fun to do today!)